There are some players who will leave the boot in now and again and a few also like to tell you that they’re Celtic fans and that they hate Rangers. I don’t have a problem with things like that, it’s all banter; we got that every week in the SPL too. What is also different from the top flight is that the playing surfaces are very close to the terracing and stands. You are so close to the fans, they are right on top of you and it can be very intimidating.
I found the away game at Elgin City on 16 March a nervy one. It came the week after we’d lost to Annan at Ibrox. It was 0–0 going into the last twenty minutes and we needed to win the game. Another one of Lee Wallace’s rampaging runs down the left won us a penalty kick. It counted that afternoon in Elgin. It was a massive game. For me to get the chance to take that penalty and make everything right again was extremely important. I had to lead by example and take responsibility. I scored from it and it was a massive win for so many different reasons. A few people would have had plenty to say if we hadn’t won it. It felt about as important a game as I’d ever played for Rangers.
Winning the league aside, another high I had was captaining the team the day Rangers celebrated its 140th anniversary. We were at home to Stirling Albion and we won 2–0. It was great to see so many Ibrox legends attend the game, including the Greatest Ever Ranger, John Greig. But it was sad another Gers great, Sandy Jardine, couldn’t attend that day. Sandy had been diagnosed with cancer of the liver and throat and was recovering after a life-saving operation. Thankfully, he is well on the mend and was able to attend a home game against East Stirling on 2 March. He received a thunderous welcome that day from the Rangers supporters and that must have been very moving for him. The Rangers fans have been brilliant to Sandy and the way they have continued their applause in the second minute of every game for him has been fitting and derserved.
Personally, to break the 100-goal barrier as a professional footballer also gave me tremendous satisfaction. To score more than 100 goals as a professional footballer has given me a tremendous buzz. I take great pride and satisfaction from it considering I rarely ever played as a striker during my time at Motherwell, Wigan and Rangers. To score the 100th goal on the day I was captain of Rangers at Ibrox Stadium was a huge thrill. I just wish I had played more games this season, though. I picked up a bad ankle injury at the turn of the year and that kept me out for seven weeks. It was very frustrating.
The fans have given me and the team unbelievable backing in the past twelve months. Over the course of the season, they were absolutely incredible. Off the park they made sure the Share Issue was a huge success and it raised more than £20 million to help take the club forward. On a match day they have been our twelfth man, their passion and commitment there for all to see, travelling up and down the country. They have been an integral part of keeping the club alive and they set a new world record a few times over with highest attendance in the league. They have had it tough at times with some of our performances, but they never turned their backs. The Blue Order have been amazing. Sometimes Ibrox can be a little bit quiet but these guys are nonstop for ninety minutes and really give the players a lift. Long may that continue. Overall, for all of our fans, I doubt they’ll ever have to go though anything as bad as the past eighteen months. I’m sure they won’t.
For me, the final part of bringing an end to the misery came on 28 February 2013. After a year-long whispering campaign and people labelling our club ‘cheats’, an investigation by an SPL Independent Commission, chaired by Lord William Nimmo Smith, announced that Rangers were cleared of gaining any unfair sporting advantage by the use of EBTs and dual contracts. It took them more than six months to gather evidence and come to their findings, but it wasn’t good enough for some. People wanted up to five titles taken from us and I was a part of three of them – in 2009, 2010 and 2011. It was a disgrace there was even an investigation in the first place. What a waste of time and it also cost more than £400,000 in legal fees. Nobody was ever going to take my championship-winning medals from me, that was for sure. And let me make it absolutely clear. I never had an EBT and I never had a dual contract. I won my medals fair and square. We all did.
The verdict from the commission was great news for the club. For that period of around a year, it was like a cancer that ate away at us, bit by bit, day by day. People wanted us dead and buried. Simple as that. I hope the worst of it is now over. Surely it must be. Really, can anything else negative happen to us? I think we’ll kick on next season and we’ll be much better. It’s about getting back into the SPL as quickly as possible.
The past year was about winning games, that is the be all and end all in football. But we have to win and also play a certain brand of football. Our fans want to be entertained and they deserve to be entertained. We have to give them better football. And we will. I understand why people expected us to win 5–0 every week and play the part-time sides off the park in some kind of Barcelona-style, but, realistically, that was never going to happen.
For a period during the first couple of months of the season I reckon there was an air of depression in and around the club. Some people might not have been aware of it, but I felt it existed. I felt depressed sometimes, no doubt. Under the circumstances of everything that had gone on, that was inevitable. We had all been through so much, taken right to the very edge time after time – the manager more than most – and we had to battle hard to come through the other side.
Because of circumstances, the manager didn’t have much to work with in the summer and was even limited in the amount of signings he could make in the SFL, but the players he brought in made an impact and made a significant contribution to us winning the League. The coaching staff made sure we all integrated and we had some real positives, such as Chris Hegarty and Andrew Mitchell becoming Northern Ireland Under-21 players and our other kids such as Fraser Aird, Kal Naismith, Robbie Crawford, Lewis Macleod and Barrie McKay played as though they’ve been in the first team for years. The boys all have great togetherness and it’s a pleasure to work with them. Dean Shiels and David Templeton both made a good impact on the park and were very professional off the park.
Our more experienced players have also played a huge part in the dressing room and on the pitch. Lee Wallace and Neil Alexander have been class this year and a help to me in my captain’s role. The manager, Kenny McDowall and Ian Durrant have stayed strong and got us one step closer to where we all want to be.
We have now secured title number 55 in the club’s illustrious history. I’m very proud to have been a part of it as we are one of the most successful clubs in the world of football. This title has given me the most satisfaction because of everything the club has been through, and to be captain is extra special. Of course, we would all have preferred it to have been another SPL Championship success, but circumstances outwith the control of the manager and the players prevented that. We are where we are and we will continue our pursuit to getting back to the top of Scottish football. Considering the dire situation we were in during the spring and summer of 2012, we have made great strides since then. We are heading in the right direction but patience and togetherness will remain key to it all. With the help of our loyal fans we will get there.
22
LEE MCCULLOCH’S DREAM TEAM
I CONSIDER myself extremely fortunate to have played with and against some of Europe’s and the world’s greatest players. I spent countless hours on my line-ups, taking into consideration the merits of my team-mates and opponents. I’m pretty sure at one point my shortlist was about thirty-five for each side. So, it’s fair to say, having to select a Dream Team and an Opponents’ XI has presented me with the most agonising decisions I’ve had to make in writing this book. But it’s also been lots of fun. I can’t include every good player I shared a pitch with, and I hope I don’t offend anyone.
I based my team on a mixture of abilities and also have some guys that I would want in the trenches beside me if I were playing in a game to save my career or life.
I firmly believe team spirit and togetherness is every bit as important – if not more important – than ability.
I’ve also selected eleven of my toughest opponents. Having played as a centre-forward, central defender and central midfielder, it’s been extremely beneficial in assessing the many different players I came up against. Some of them made my life as a footballer really difficult and that’s why they have been chosen. I’m sure it would have been an interesting game between my dream team and toughest opponents!
But here is my Dream Team selection and, needless to say, you do not find me in the dream team. I’m not worthy of a slot in there, not to mention the fact I’d prefer to give the guys a chance of winning the game! As I’ve not selected myself I would happily be the bus driver or help wee Jimmy Bell with the kit. Or maybe I would just buy a season ticket to watch the lads perform!
DREAM TEAM (4-4-2)
Goalkeeper
GARRY GOW: Gowzer has been my close mate since we were both apprentice footballers at Motherwell. He is a strong character, very brave and also has a madcap streak in him, which is typical of goalkeepers. We went through a lot together on and off the pitch so he has to be my number one. He has ability and also has a big nose to help him fly through the air! He is one of the very few people who nickname me ‘Cully’. Why? Well, when I first joined Motherwell everyone called me Lee. I never had a nickname. Football being football, every player must have a nickname and Alex McLeish called me ‘Cully’. Not very original! The lads didn’t even laugh at it and quickly ignored it. But Gowzer has stuck with it.
From our early days at Fir Park we clicked right away and became close pals. He’d come down to my mum’s house for lunch between training sessions. But he was a lazy boy at doing his jobs for the senior players. He hated cleaning boots and setting out the training gear. So I’d do it for him. He used to laugh and call me ‘brown tongue’.
He was a brilliant keeper and I remember getting him Keeper of the Tournament when we were in Spain. He got a beautiful watch for it and he’s never shut up about it from that day. We lost to Real Madrid in the final. We all got skinheads for the final, which was amusing at the time. Willie McLean was the Youth Team manager back then and I think even he managed to raise a smile at us. Gowzer moved on to play for different clubs and I’m delighted we still remain in close contact.
Defence
GED BRANNAN: Ged played with me at Motherwell and Wigan and is a central midfield player but he was also extremely effective at right-back, and that’s why I’ve chosen him in that position. He was solid in the tackle and was also good at taking and delivering set pieces. Every player he played against knew they were in a game.
He took me under his wing when he arrived at Motherwell. He really helped me coming into the first team at Motherwell, which I was grateful for, and gave me lots of confidence which I needed at that time! He is a top bloke, typical Scouser that loves a drink but has a great attitude. He was loud and confident, but in a nice way.
Ged came in at a time when John Boyle was spending money. He came up here with his wife Melanie and they stayed in Motherwell. He showed me the ropes, the do’s and don’ts of a dressing room and general advice as to how to get on as a young professional. He loved a right good bevvy but used to tell me to be a better professional than he was, to pick and choose the right times to socialise.
LEIGHTON BAINES: Bainesy is different class. Simple as that. He was coming into the team at Wigan just as we started having success. I played on the left with him and he is undoubtedly developing into one of the best left-backs in world football at the moment. Without question, he is the best left-footed player I’ve ever played with. Along with his wand of a left foot he also has great pace and can be as hard as nails. I’m delighted to see him playing regularly for England as his dedication and willingness to learn is second to none.
I played when he made his debut for Wigan. After his fourth or fifth game Paul Jewell said in his team talk, ‘Bainesy, just you keep doing what you’ve been doing. I’ve had Alex Ferguson on the phone and he’s told me he wants first refusal on you.’ How good was that? We all knew he was going to be a star. For a Scouser, he is quite a quiet guy but he does love a good laugh! He just likes to sit back and soak it all in. He’s also honest and hardworking. We were very close at Wigan and still keep in touch.
DAVIE WEIR (Captain): My skipper has been there for me in the past as a shoulder to cry on and moan on and, basically, to annoy the hell out of him! He is now into his coaching career and I know he will be a leader of men as a manager at a big club. He has all the credentials and respect of his peers.
He skippered Rangers in the Champions League when he was forty and that sums the big guy up. On the pitch he could be a nasty bastard. Even when we were in training he loved to get a kick at you, let you know he was there.
I knew Davie from the Scotland squads. He was a senior player and I was in the Under-21s. But that mattered not a jot when I played for Wigan and lined up against him at Everton when he was centre-half. I tried to make a run inside the box to get on the end of a free-kick. I was stopped in my tracks as Davie elbowed me bang in the middle of my nose. He then stared at me, as if to say, ‘Well, come on then. What you got to offer me?’
Off the park, he is a gent and has some of the best one-liners going! He also has great teeth (he’ll be buzzing I said that!).
MATT JACKSON: Mr Wigan and our captain through the good times. A very good player. Matt had an amazing attitude and was a great example for young kids! Having him and Davie as my central defensive pairing must mean the combined age is touching ninety, but that wouldn’t matter to them or to me. They know the game and that’s what matters.
Matt helped me through my Wigan days by showing me different areas. He also found me a house there. We had different managers and different players coming and going all the time and that made it quite a challenging dressing room, sort of hard to get momentum going and togetherness built. But he kept working at it and made sure foundations were put down. He showed authority and leadership and helped cement the boys together. Yet, strangely enough, he wasn’t the most confident of guys, he was quite shy. Was quite rightly a fans’ favourite.
Midfield
JIMMY BULLARD: Where do I start? A wee guy, just skin and bones to him, really. Easily the worst hair in football but a lovely guy and the best banter in the game! A typical Cockney off the pitch. On the boys’ nights out in pubs he would usually take his top off and get the full pub to count him to twenty topless press-ups, then pour a pint over his head and finish off with a song!
Jimmy was a brilliant player and had a fantastic level of fitness as he went from box to box for ninety minutes and never seemed to tire. He was the most confident player I’ve ever played with, sometimes it bordered on over-confidence but I didn’t mind that in him.
In our debut season in the Premiership he was just unbelievable before games as the teams stood in the tunnel. We were little Wigan Athletic, newly promoted and expected to be the whipping boys. Jimmy would be standing there with the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Paul Scholes opposite him for the top teams. Jimmy did not give a monkey. He used to shout at the top of his voice towards the opposition, ‘Don’t come in the Bullard dog house because you’ll get bitten.’ After a few weeks he’d tell us he was going to scream it at the top of his voice and that we had to respond by barking back, ‘Woof, woof’. So, he shouted it in the tunnel and the rest of the boys kept quiet. Not one of us gave the response he was looking for. So, he shouted it again and then answered himself with, ‘Woof, woof.’
He took to the Premiership without a problem. Some of us were a little apprehensive and sort of dipped our toes in, but Jimmy just got in there with both feet and was inspirational in our debut season.
He was also a busy boy and loved to make an appearance on Soccer AM. He used to tell us Tim Lovejoy was desperate to get him on all the time but we later found out his agent was on the phone to them non-stop
asking for Jimmy to get a gig.
BARRY FERGUSON: Like myself a Lanarkshire lad, and his dad, Archie, would sometimes take us to play in games together when we were kids. We played together for Rangers and Scotland and he was a leader on the park. Always played with his head up, looking to play a pass. Had very good vision, never hid and always demanded possession. On the park, maturity beyond his years from an early age. A total winner. And I believe a guy cut out to have a great future in management.
PAUL DALGLISH: Another close mate at Wigan. He played well wide right of a midfield four and was very direct, loved to run at the full-back. On his day was a really good player. I had sympathy for him – I think we all did, actually – having to run out with Dalglish on his back, as his dad was the best Scottish player ever. That must have been a huge weight to carry around. All things considered, Paul coped very well. He was lightning quick and had a great right foot. He maybe just didn’t believe in himself enough.
Off the pitch he loved a laugh and had amazing one-liners. It wasn’t pleasant to be on the receiving end of his tongue. Paul Jewell didn’t really take to him as Paul Dalglish used to wind him up. One day he parked his Porsche in the gaffer’s parking bay and when confronted by Jewell he gave him both barrels, turned the situation around on its head. Jewell was wearing a tight T-shirt and he told him he looked like a fat member of the band Boyzone – who were the in-band at that time.
Paul Dalglish never introduced me to Ronan Keating but he did take me out for lunch one day with the former glamour model Jordan, aka Katie Price. She was in Manchester for a Manchester United game. I think she might have been dating Dwight Yorke at that time. She was good company and she told Paul she liked me!
Simp-Lee the Best Page 23